Money News

The money and banking system that has brought the world’s economy to its knees should be allowed to collapse in favour of an alternative that serves people and planet - Dr. Mae-Wan Ho

The action plan comes in a simple 6 part agenda for the US that is directly transferable to Europe and elsewhere.

1. Reverse banking consolidation and build a national system of community-based, community-accountable institutions. Break up the megabanks and implement tax and regulatory policies that favour community-based financial institutions, in particular, cooperatives or ownership by non-profit organisations devoted to building community wealth

2. Create a State Partnership Bank in each of the 50 states to serve as a depository for state financial assets and partners with community development financial institutions on loans to local homes, industry, and commerce.

3. Restructure the US Federal Reserve to limit its responsibility to managing the money supply, subject to federal oversight and public accountability and require all newly created money to be applied to funding public infrastructure.

4. Create a Federal Recovery and Reconstruction Bank to finance critical green infrastructure projects designated by Congress. It would be funded with the money that the Federal Reserve creates when it determines a need to expand the money supply; instead of introducing it through Wall Street Banks, as currently done.

5. Rewrite international trade and investment rules to secure national ownership, self-reliance and self-determination (in a reversal of economic globalisation). Bring interna­tional rules into alignment with the foundational assumptions of trade theory that the ownership of productive assets belongs to citizens of the country in which they are located and that trade between nations is balanced. Hold corporations operating in multiple countries accountable for compliance with the laws of each country of operation.

6. Implement appropriate regulatory and fiscal measures to secure the integrity of financial markets and the money/banking system. Such measures properly favour productive investment and render financial speculation and other unproductive financial games illegal and unprofitable. (This would include the Tobin tax on financial transactions for example, that is part of the EU treaty agreed to deal with Eurozone crisis on 9 December 2011, but vetoed by UK [16].)

The outrageous Greece bailout plan, written by bankers, floods banks with free taxpayer money and doesn't help Greek people.

"Absolutely, we need to bailout Greece to save Greece, and save Europe. But the current bailout makes us the taxpayers pay back banks for 90% of their foolish investments. Greek people don't get a cent, and we give a ton of money to rich bankers. And even worse -- about 30% of our money will go to speculators who will make a massive profit from gambling on a bailout!"

Econ4: economics for people, for the planet and for the future.

Economics for our times and for our shared future requires profound departures from the orthodox economics of the past. We need an economics for the 21st century. Econ4.org is your guide to new ways of thinking about economics.

The capivari—a currency named after a rodent—circulates only in one dusty, agricultural town 60 miles north of Rio de Janeiro.

Ten months after introduction of the capivari—named after the capybara, a pig-sized rodent common in a local river—the currency is lifting fortunes of local retailers and gnawing holes in the pockets of consumers. Capivaris pay for everything from haircuts to restaurant tabs to tithing at churches. The mayor even has plans to open a "Capivari Megastore," where local artisans and growers can showcase wares.

The capivari is one of 63 local moneys—including bills named after the sun, cactus and the Brazil nut—now circulating in needy neighborhoods throughout Latin America's biggest economy. The idea is gaining currency as towns seek a share of current economic growth. This month, a new local currency hit the streets in Cidade de Deus, the Rio slum that was the subject of a blockbuster film and a stop on President Barack Obama's South American tour this year.

While equal in value to the real, local currencies gain traction because local merchants offer discounts when using them. No one is forced to quit the real, but shopkeepers say greater volumes make the markdown worthwhile.

"It brings customers through the door," said Roseanne Augusto, manager of a Silva Jardim hardware store, where a builder one recent afternoon set aside 2,700 reais in supplies, about $1,520 worth. He then left the store, went to trade reais, and returned to pay with capivaris, saving 5%.

Capivaris are managed by a new, community-run Capivari Bank. Inside its one office, a brightly painted space the size of a small fast-food joint, are the bank's employees, three women in their 20s.

For each of the 50,000 capivaris first circulated, Capivari Bank holds an equal number of reais on deposit at a traditional bank.

Using gold as money, instead of government issued non-convertible currency, will bring prosperity and stability and prevent us from being defrauded by bakers and bureaucrats!

The concept rests on the basic premise that since gold is relatively fixed in supply, the government can’t increase the money supply, thus money is sound. What’s more, investors and savers, financial planners and contract holders have certainty, knowing the money in their plans and bargains will keep a stable value.

Of course, there is one small problem with this: It’s hopelessly wrong.

Paolo Cirio’s new project was born with the goal of exploring the possibility of generating wealth for ordinary people through a more equitable system of wealth distribution.

Currently, banks are the only (legitimate) entities playing the role of custodians of credit. But as demonstrated in the last recession, credit does not always have a corresponding value in reality (in terms of a material value).

A new, independent non-profit financial organization called “Basic Credit Network” was created to help facilitate the right to circulate money, creating “free” credit and distributing it through a program called Global Basic Credit. The P2P Gift Credit Cards are the tolls for the implementation of this program.

The so-called Robin Hood tax — a tiny levy on trades in the financial markets that would take money from the banks and give it to the world’s poor — has attracted an array of influential champions.

The chiemgauer, a school currency project in southern Germany, is the envy of other currency schemes as shoppers opt for local cash to spend in local shops...

It started as a school project by Christian Gelleri, an economics teacher in southern Germany who wanted to teach a group of 16-year-olds about finance in a novel way – by creating their own money, to be used in local shops and businesses. They called it the "chiemgauer" and eight years on, the project has turned into the world's most successful alternative currency.

Last year turnover reached €5.1m, and the chiemgauer, named after a region in Bavaria, is now accepted by more than 600 businesses in the Rosenheim-Traunstein area where it operates. It is estimated that around 2,500 people regularly use the currency and along the way it has also earned more than €100,000 for local non-profit organisations.

What makes the chiemgauer different to conventional currency is that it automatically loses value if you don't spend it. Unlike traditional money that can be saved, the chiemgauer is only valid for three months – the idea being that it must be spent, thereby boosting the local economy. If the notes aren't spent, they can be renewed by buying a stamp that costs 2% of the note's face value – so over a year, the currency depreciates 8%. Notes can be renewed up to seven times.

One way to define ‘social currency’ is as recorded reputation. The currencies of the emerging reputation economy will be symbols like badges, club memberships, links and Twitter lists, all of which help to lock in reputation gains within a community or scene. While opportunities to do what you love for money are hard to come by, there is no limit to the amount of social currency you can earn to demonstrate your skills and commitment.

So why wait? Here’s a short guide to printing your own social currency, and what to do with it...

VideoThere's a strange new world out there of alternative currencies - strange new methods for paying for goods and services both online and off.

Clearly they don't quite know what to make of those alternative currencies that are developing here and there, but Eric Savitz of Forbes bravely interviews Stan Stalnaker, founder of Hub Culture, which has issued a new currency called the Ven.